Spiral staircase to the top of the world

A couple of days ago, my grandparents, Dad, Felix & I went for a walk near Lenzburg, a small town in the lowlands of Switzerland. After a steady, 30-minute climb we arrived on top of an area called Berg. There, in the middle of the forest, was a strange structure that looked a bit like a spaceship on a huge pillar. Had the Martians finally landed?

What on Earth is that?

When we got closer, I noticed a big entrance at the bottom of the pillar, but no Martian in sight.

It's huge! There's a big entrance at the bottom of it—should we go in?

Grandma went ahead and was quickly swallowed up by the darkness beyond the entrance. Then Dad, Felix & I went in, followed by Granddad. Honestly, I was a bit scared. The first thing I saw beyond the entrance was an array of thick, solid steel rods in the middle of the pillar.

Steel rods in the centre of the pillar.

Then I saw some writing on the wall. Ah, all of a sudden it became clear: No Martians, no spaceship, but a lookout tower instead, phew!

The lookout tower's vital statistics.

The above translates to something like “Local Citizens of the Municipal Lenzburg, Esterli Tower built 1974, platform 45 m, entrance 557 masl, tower height 48 m/605 masl, 19 elements at 2.5 m, 253 steps, cost SFR 185,874.”

Later we found out that the tower consists of about 140 m³ of concrete, 6010 kg of steel, and weighs roughly 330 t. It sits on a 7×7 m, 80 cm deep foundation.

253 steps! A staircase to heaven?

We started climbing. 253 steps, that’s a lot of stepping for sure! Luckily Dad carried Felix & me We could hear Grandma’s steps ahead of us. Relentlessly we spiralled upwards, 18 stories’ worth! At every level there was a narrow window through which we caught glimpses of the outside world getting smaller and smaller. After what seemed like an eternity we were greeted by a bright, white light—had we arrived in heaven?

Dad, me & Felix on top of the world.

No, it wasn’t heaven but certainly heaven-like! The views from the the top were truly breathtaking. All the way round the viewing platform were small, round windows, perfect viewpoints for us teddies

Felix at one of the 16 teddy windows.

A hill called Staufberg with a church on top.

Full view of Staufberg.

Lenzburg, an 8000-people township.

What's that building in the foreground? It's the district prison, where all the bad teddies go!

Castle Lenzburg, its origin dating back to the 11^th century.

Eight panels tell visitors what they're looking at.

On a clear day, the furthest visible point is 107 km away, a mountain called Spillgerten (2476 m high) in the Bernese Alps.

We're high above the trees—feels like we're flying.

Zoom shot of Lake Hallwil with the Alps in the background.

Fluffy clouds decorate the sky.

Before I go, here’s some more trivia: On 6 October 2007, a Swiss by the name of Kurt Hess landed a world record. He climbed the tower 413 times within 24 hours, a total of 18,585 m (104,489 steps) of climbing! Kurt Hess holds the world record in climbing the highest number of metres (altitude) within 24 hours: 37,170 m (up and down). How remarkable is that?!